| Show i L Laws and Public Sentiment Sentiment t There is iss one thing that it would be well for far all aU legislators to tot t consider well NO wen NO LAW THAT THEY CAN r PASS WILL HAVE RAVE t ANY AN STRENGTH BEYOND ITS POPULARITY IN THE COMMUNITY COMMUNITY COM COM- l WHERE IT APPLIES It is all very well for learned jurists to talk about the ma nm jesty testy of the law it sounds good to hear politicians just going into office proudly boast I will enforce all the laws us ar J I find them regardless reg-ardless of circumstances But they dont don't do du it THEY CAN CANT N No law is stronger than the will o of o. the people Where a majority wants anything done that done that thing is done PUBLIC SENTIMENT HAS NOT YET FOUND ANY OBSTACLE OBSTACLE r CLE IT COULD NOT OVERCOME IE AND IT NEVER WILL FIND ONE On the other hand we have yet yet- yetto to learn of any unpopular law being enforced very fiery vigorously where public sentiment cried out t against it This is a government run by bj the people even if some of us do dorant dorant 1 rant sometimes about oppression by the bosses IF THOSE BOSSES WEREN'T VERENT POPULAR THEY WOULDN'T BE IN POWER PO Would the they Who Vho puts them there The people do IT WOULD BE THE GREATEST BLESSING IN AMERICA Al IF ALL THE LAWS VS COULD BE CANCELED AND A SIMPLE CODE OF JUSTICE ADOPTED IN PLACE OF THE CONFLICTING CONFLICT CONFLICT- I ING MASS 1 OF STATUTES THAT NOW V PUZZLE AND PERPLEX PER PER- PERt PERI PLEX PEEK t The best thing that can be said of the present Utah legislature legislature legisla legisla- I ture is that it has passed only one bill since it met for many J laws are worthless The testimony in a recent trial here showed that the defendant defendant defendant defend- defend ant had violated three laws YET laws YET HE WAS FREED I It is evident that these 1 laws are not popular therefore juries will not help enforce them The law says no liquor must be served in a cafe without I meals Testimony showed that this provision was violated at att t least twice Another law says women entertainers must not be employed where liquor is sold The testimony showed that this also was was' violated violate by the defendant But it proved an unpopular law and failure to enforce it was the natural result This nation has long since ceased to respect a law just because because because be be- cause it is a LAW The many travesties on justice the ridiculous delays and I use use of idiotic technicalities the advantages given the rich over II the poor through the ability to take greater advantage of loopholes loopholes loopholes loop- loop holes and the very QUANTITY of statutes have all tended to kill kiIl the peoples people's awe of the law It has therefore resolved itself into a question of whether a at t l certain law takes well weIl with the people A certain set of men met in convention in in Kansas to draw S up a state constitution Most lost of them were farmers They found it cheaper to buy their whisky in five gallon five gaon demijohns and keep a little liquor about the house for emergencies so they decided that Kansas should have no saloons BUT KANSAS DID HAVE SALOONS AND LOTS LOTS' OF THEM Where that dry clause in the state constitution was unpopular unpopular unpopular ular it was Ignored The Kansas farmers tried to tell the people in the cities and towns how they should live Jive but they didn't succeed THE MEMBERS OF THE KANSAS LEGISLATURE ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS AL AL- WAYS KNOW WHERE THEY CAN GET A NIP NIP WHEN 1 I THEY GO TO TOPEKA There is plenty of booze in Topeka for out of 2200 arrests in the Kansas capital last year were 1 for drunkenness according to official figures on file in the state records No law that is not backed by public sentiment has any chance of succeeding IN KANSAS CITY KANSAS ANSAS THERE HAVE BEEN SCORES OF JURY TRIALS WHERE THE CHARGE I. I WAS VAS SELLING LIQUOR IN VIOLATION OF THE rHE STATE f LAW VY THE EVIDENCE WAS VAS INDISPUTABLE BUT THE JURIES RETURNED VERDICTS OF NOT GUILTY There are thousands of other laws in this country that are not enforced It is safe to say that NOT ONE-FOURTH ONE OF ALL THE LAWS VS AND CITY ORDINANCES IN UTAH ARE EN EN- FORCED s Only those backed up by public sentiment are effective I 1 We elect legislators and commissioners to make laws and ordin ordinances for us but we obey only those that suit us Such is the American spirit |
